The Dare
by autumnsbeginning
Summary: Among the high school students at Safe Haven Church there is a tradition called The Dare. What happens when this Dare has gone too far?
1. Prologue

_**Prologue**_

Aaron took a deep breath and took the three steps that led to the front door of the church on Wednesday night. Tonight, the Dare would be issued, and he was up for grabs. The to-be seniors were the only ones eligible to be the Dared, and the five of them were to be at the meeting that night. Everybody, all except the candidates, knew what the Dare was that year. During Sunday school the previous week, the seniors were sent out of the room. The rest of the group brainstormed about the Dare and selected either the freshmen, the sophomores, or the juniors to be the Darers. There were seven juniors-to-be that year who were the Darers, and at the end of the meeting the Dared would know his or her challenge and when it was to be completed.

Aaron pulled open the door and joined Britney, Rebecca, Noah, Josiah, and a bunch of the juniors at the table in the basement and waited for the meeting to begin.

Teri, obviously the one in charge and a personality to suit, spoke first. "Everyone's here. Britney, come with us into the nursery room."

The seniors waited until Britney came back, and Aaron's palms grew sweaty. This was a big deal to him. The Dare was something everybody talked about, and the person that was Dared was always greatly respected after it was over. The one thing that daunted him was the fact nobody had ever solved a Dare before in the history. They were always so cleverly thought up that the Dared was always too scared to do it or couldn't find a way to solve it.

"Aaron."

His head snapped up as Teri called his name. He hadn't been paying attention to who had already gone and was wondering whether he was the last. He followed the juniors into the nursery and sat down in the rocking chair, looking up as the serious faces surrounded him. He was sure his face was red and he could feel himself sweating, imagining the liquid seeping out of his pores—

"Aaron, congratulations, you are Dared," said Teri triumphantly. "When you walk out of that door, your face should not betray this. You will not tell anyone other than one assistant about the Dare. This Dare will be completed by Christmas and will be announced at the middle school, high school Christmas youth group party."

The boys grinned mischievously, and one of them announced: "Aaron, your Dare: to win the trust of Rebecca, to befriend her, to get her to open up."

Aaron sucked in a breath and nodded. Okay, so _this_ was the reason why nobody ever solved a Dare. They were hard.

Rebecca Pier had come to the church a few years back, and she'd always been very quiet. She always sat back and listened to conversations, never joining in. She never talked, and when she did it was to respond to a question with a hushed monosyllabic answer. Aaron had never gotten anything out of her, other than a quiet 'no' or 'yes' for the sake of manners.

He remembered the few times she had been asked to join a conversation or discussion at youth group, or to give an answer to something or put in her own opinion on a specific subject. She'd turned very white when everybody's eyes turned on her, and she sat there for a couple of seconds before rushing to the bathroom. They all assumed it was to empty her stomach, but Aaron was sure it was no small case of stage fright. The girl hated to have attention, and she got so nervous when she was put on the spot that she couldn't handle it.

Aaron pitied Rebecca more than anybody. At first he—along with everybody else—thought she would get over her shyness after she'd met them and got used to them and her surroundings, but it didn't get any better. Don and Anne, the youth group leaders, had tried talking with her in private, but their efforts had failed.

And Aaron was sure that even if he put in everything he had, he would never be able to complete the Dare.


	2. Chapter 1

**AN: **Thanks to those who reviewed! I have to say I wasn't expecting very many reviews on this whim of a story... Hey I'm going to put all my thanks to people who've reviewed to my poems and other stories since my last posts on this author note. I've attempted to upload several chapters to two different stories at once... and that can get confusing. So all my thanks are going here. Hope you all don't mind. Thanks!

**Katana Blade **(Hmmmm... I was a little too obvious, huh? Well, actually that's where I plan for this to go. Mostly. I have a few twists in mind other than the given. And when I write a story, I just go with an opening scene or an overall idea, and then let it embellish itself. So actually I have no idea where this story might end up! Not even _I_ can attempt to predict teh ending. About your reveiw for "What's the Point", um, yeah I tend toask questions. Actually,I probably think _too_ much about that stuff. Know what I mean?You do have a really good point. I think that's definitely the biggest reason why God created Hell. But technically, we all are sinners, all of us have a sin-nature, and we can all fall prey to teh Devil. Kind of what I said before, we all deserve to go to Hell. No sin is greater than any other, so technically we're all in line with those murderers and blasphemers, aren't we? I don't konw if it's safe to say that we're all followers of Satan, because I dont' know exactly waht that would be described as. If you think of being a follower of Satan as beign a lying, stealiking, murderer blasphemer, then yeah I guess we _all _arefollowers of Satan. Tell me ifI'm wrong, that's just a thought.Thanks for reviewing!) **Emandley** (Oh, thanks! I'm... well, waht am I supposed to say to that? Thanks?Is there a synonym for thank you because I coudl sure use it... I'm saying the same word over and over for lack of a better one, but please know I mean it!) **Iris Domingo** (Yeah, racism and racial diversity are subjects, or rather subect, that is close to my heart. It's one of those things about the world that horrifies me. How oculd people be so cruel?) **Sassy Lil Scorpio **(I know where you're going. See, sometimes poetry limits your words. When I get going about something, I don't want to worry about rhyming or pattern or anything like that. Know waht I mean? I could try to put all that into a poem... Thanks! I appreciate your reviews, and I'm being honest about that!) **Trine** (You don't have any idea how much your reviews matter to me. All of you. Yeah, I could do some more explanation, though... and wouldn't mind doing it! All because of my lack of time, though, I dont konw if I'll be able to any time soon) **LadyLuck** (By isolated, what do you mean? Hehe, whenever I hear teh word isolated, I think of a little bungalow or cottage in teh middle of an Africanjungle and I can hear monkeys and rainforest animals in the background. Mosquito netting, teh croaking of frogs, exotic birds... my imagination is running wild! Help! Okay, anyway, before I get going, thanks for your review!) **Suave Boogie** (You've just made the point I wastryingot make but didn't!Congratulations and thanks! That's awesome. Yes, a just God would have to inforce His laws! It's only right! Oooh thanks for your review! Great point!) **Jay Ling **(Hey... thanks!) **Proud Atheist **(Good point. I get where you're going, totally.I didn't even think of that, but I do have an answer. Satan _does_ have power over people and does have his hand in teh world today, too. Do you think any God-fearing man would ever kill those babies in Egypt? I don't think so. Also, it's amazing what power lust can do to someone. It's a very tempting thing, the Devil's tool. I think that Pharoah would have gone even further to get more power, and that's Satan right there for you, murdering all those babies and using Pharoah's power to go against his greatest enemy, God. It's all spiritual warfare. Also, the Bible says that all babies go to Heaven, because they aren't old enough to make a choice to follow Him. The Devil can murder all the babies he wants, whether with abortion or Pharoah's army, but they're all building up God's Kingdom anyhow, anyway! I hope that sort of explained it to you, adn if you want you can email me, it's teh same as my penname at I would like for you to do that if you don't think I gave you a good explanation. Thanks for reveiwing, though!) **Fairlane** (Hey your explanation was so much better than mine! That was a really good point! I said 'send' for lack of a better word, but that is definitely true that it's the person's choice, not God's, that separates them from Him. Oooh, good! Oh, and as you can see you're not alone when it comes to rambling, from the paragraph above...)

Sorry anybody if I missed your review, I'm sure I missed some. I'm going to get back to that tomorrow after I finish another chapter. Sorry! Thanks for reviewing! Adn here's my actual writing:

_**Chapter 1**_

Again on Sunday morning, Aaron walked up the steps to the church. This time he wasn't as nervous as he had been on Wednesday, but his stomach still lurched as he saw Rebecca standing next to the wooden table on the side of the lobby. Today was Missions Sunday, as they had about every other month, when there was an update from the mission's board, and sometimes the missionaries they supported would drop in to share a little bit about what they do. The little table off to the side that normally held church bulletins, handouts, miscellaneous orphaned bowls and cutlery that had been abandoned at the last church pot luck, the prayer request box, and other things now held piles of newsletters from their various missionaries from Mexico, Canada, Africa, Europe, China, and other places around the globe.

Rebecca was looking at a pamphlet as he casually walked up next to her. "Hey, Rebecca. It's nice to see you. I think we must have missed each other last Sunday; I didn't see you."

She gave him a quick smile; it was like a flash and then gone, leaving you seeing spots. As he stood there debating what next to say to her, Aaron was also wondering whether she had actually smiled or not. It could have been a figment of his imagination. Whether or not the grin had appeared on her face or not, his next sentence was, "So how have you been doing lately?"

Rebecca nervously shrugged her shoulders, set down her pamphlet, randomly grabbed up another newsletter and hurried off as the music started. As he joined his own family, he thought: _Note to self: Ask questions that require verbal answers._

That evening at youth group Aaron arrived early, hoping that Don and Anne wouldn't think he was rude. But he had to talk to Rebecca, had to make her realize that he wasn't going to bite.

Much to his happiness, Rebecca arrived just a little later than himself. He had to hang onto the couch to keep from pouncing on her, raining questions down onto her, hoping that he sounded kind all the while. He smiled in her direction, knew she saw it, but received only a nervous glance as a reply. As she sat down in the rocking chair that was her typical seat, Aaron turned to her.

"Hey, Rebecca. How are you doing… since I talked to you this morning?" Okay, so _talked_ wasn't the word for it. It had been a one-sided conversation.

Shrug.

He hopped up, pretending to be undaunted. "I think they've got some snacks in the kitchen. I told them we needed goldfish crackers, so they'd better have some. Want me to get you a cupful?"

Nod.

Aaron walked into the kitchen, smiled to Anne, who was mixing some lemonade, and grabbed two small Dixie cups. "I see you've got goldfish. Bravo."

"If 'bravo' is a form of 'thank you', then I guess you're welcome," Anne grinned over at him as he scooped up the little orange fishes in the cups. "You must _really_ love them."

He shrugged and smiled again, not bothering to explain that the second cup was for Rebecca. Picking up a little fishy between his fingers and waving, swooping it around like it was swimming, he quipped, "What can I say? They're just so cute… up until you crunch them between your teeth." He walked back into the living room singing, "_The snack that smiles back, Goldfish_."

Rebecca nodded her thanks when Aaron handed her the cup of cheddar crackers.

"I heard on the prayer chain that your grandmother was in the hospital." _Great conversation starter, Shakespeare. Now she's going to start bawling over her hospitalized grandmother. They probably had this great relationship…_

She just shrugged. Again.

"Do you know how she's doing?" She hadn't started crying and she didn't seem any less embarrassed or nervous than before, so he asked her another question.

"Good," she mumbled, and then seemed to dare a look at him. He smiled what he thought would be a warm, welcoming, and hopefully kind smile.

Rebecca's face turned white as a sheet and she went rushing to the restroom, just as Anne came out to the living room to hand him a cup of lemonade and make herself comfortable in the recliner on the other side of the couch.

"I imagined that going… differently," sighed Aaron, leaning back onto the couch to relax and waiting for her to come back out.

Anne had the warmest smile. He didn't even start to hope that his was anything close to that. "I appreciate your efforts to befriend her, Aaron. That's really nice of you. I think she really needs a friend, and I think she feels a little bit intimidated that someone older than her, like myself, would try to be her friend. She probably thinks it's just because I'm one of the youth pastors, and it's my job, but I really would like to crack that tough outer shell."

"I just smiled at her."

Anne nodded knowingly. "Did it ever occur to you that she might take your attentions…the wrong way? And be a little freaked out?"

Aaron admired Anne. She could make someone feel so at ease, even talking about something uncomfortable. And her use of the phrase 'freaked out' was something you wouldn't expect from somebody that was almost thirty, nearly a decade older than he was.

He looked down. "Oh. I never thought of that." His head snapped back up. "But that's not what I'm trying to achieve, you know. I just want…"

"I know," Anne said. It was as if she knew everything.

Aaron went for another cupful of goldfish just as a few other cars drove up into the driveway for youth group. Once there were more people, he knew Rebecca would come out of the bathroom, so she wouldn't have to talk one-on-one with him again.


	3. Chapter 2

**AN: **Again, I hope you all don't get confused, but I'm replying to all my reviews in this story. That includes my poems, my Butterfly stories, _and_ this one (and I guess anyoneelsewho reads Autumn's Beginning, which I doubt because it's way too long and I wouldn't have time to read it either). So, thanks for being patient with me. I'm writing two stories at once!

First of all, I think it's very entertaining to read the ongoing debate in my Inbox. Please no profanity, though, **Proud Atheist**. I do invite you to keep on expressing your opinions, though. Everyone's entitled to one, even one that is expressed through reviews... Lol, I really don't mind and I will read your views with an open mind, but I prefer not to read cuss words along with it and I think you can make your point very well wihtout using them.

The replies to the reviews in the paragraph following are ones that are older, so I'm very sorry to have taken so long! More recent responses are in teh paragraph below that one.

**Firestorm** (I agree with you all teh way on that. Thanks for reviewing! White people have anger and violence problems, too, and we have no right to judge anyone just because of their skin color. Right on! Thank you! It's nice to have people who share my opinion and agree with it so strongly. I praised God when I got your review) **Pixie of the Pen **(I love your penname, too. That's awesome. It took me a while to realize that I can spread the love and Word of God without being published. If there is one lesson God has taught this hard-headed writer, it's that I should be content in my circumstances. I still have a dream of being publishing, of being a famous Christian fiction author, but I'm not going to push it any longer. Publishing, I discovered, takes a lot more money and tiem adn is more complicated than I thought. But thanks for your compliments! I appreciate it!) **werekat1** (You're very right. I actually wrote this a long time ago, even though I can now see both sides of it. It was whiny. Very whiny, actually. I only left it up because I felt that maybe kids that are liek I used to be could share that opinion, could know that they aren't teh only ones feeling that way. I think I also need to add a littel bit on why the opinion expressed in teh poem could be wrong. Thanks for pointing that out and taking the time to review! I know exactly where you're coming from... I just hadn't read through that poem in a while!)

Okay, now for the new thank-yous. **Crystal **(Lol, i see how it is. I tell you I would give you all my skittles, and you say I'm weird! You're such a good friend... jk! Lol thanks! Hehe, you'll be surprised at how Butterfly Wings ends. But I have a sequel to the sequel coming! I used goldfish because that's what I was craving right then, too!) **WritingforJesus14** (Hey, thanks! I haven't seen anything by you. Are you new? If so, welcome! If not, then I need to look you up and see what you've written. God Bless) **Forever in my Heart **(Thanks a lot for your review. I don't mind all that much getting flames. Teh other reviews make up for those, like this one. Right back at ya!) **Mische7** (Yes, I love my reviewers, too. They're mostly teh reason why I continue to write, because I am encouraged. Thanks for your views, I completely agree with them. I'm with you all teh way. It's nice to find someone who knows where I'm coming from! I agree. I could never say that God is not loving when tehre is so much evidence that He is. Look at teh mountains! The trees! Teh flowers! A reminder every day! God bless you, and thank you so much for reviewing and sharing your opinion.) **Jess **(Thanks for your advice. I appreciate it. I like how you can really tell someone what's missing in their story and be positive about it, even better than constructive criticism! Keep it up, it makes people feel a lot better about recieiving criticism on their work. Anyway, about your review. You're completely right and I couldn't agree more, but be patient! You'll hear more from Aaron's background in a little while. No, you explained that perfectly and I got your point loud and clear. And don't apologize at all. I could have included a little bit more background in teh first two chapters, but as a friend from fictionpress has pointed out many times, I tend to rush things a little bit. The mystery of Aaron's background is meant to make readers want to continue with teh story. Whether it works or not is one thign I do not know! So sorry if I'm stressing anybody otu with not telling them much about the characters' backgrounds, but I'm tryign to work on relaxing and not rushing things when I write.) **Gi Xian **(Lol, I know, I say again, when I get going, I reallyget going! My notes are normally not 'little') **TrubySCS3 **(You're right, the best fics make you smile. The greatest reviews make you smile, too! And I did smile when I read this one! Thank you so much! I think this takes top ten on the nicest reviews I've ever gotten) **Emandley **(Thanks for your review! I'd like to see where this one is going too...) **Katana Blade **(I heard great novelists write that way. Hmmmm...)

_**Chapter Two**_

Chris's jaw dropped in amazement. "Man! I've never had a better excuse to make my moves on a girl. I mean, you never know, this girl could be cool and funny but just too shy to show it. She could be the _one_ for you, man."

Aaron shook his head, wanting to be amused at his friend's reaction but too troubled by his words to laugh. "For one, Chris, I don't even like her. Two, the point is to gain her _friendship_, not her _affections_, and I probably wouldn't want to think of her that way anyway. Three, I'm only a senior, probably with four years of college ahead of me. I don't plan on getting attached to Rebecca or any other girl. And if she's a girl that I could get emotionally involved with, all the worse."

Chris just smiled. "Why are you so serious about this?"

"Look, I don't know if this is an idea new to you, but I actually care for the people I'm around. If there's anything I feel for Rebecca, it's pity or protectiveness. I don't want anyone to hurt such a shy girl's feelings, and I definitely don't want to be the one to do it."

"It's going to happen sometime, bro."

"And I don't want to be the one to make it happen!" Aaron said, running a hand through his hair. "You know how girls are. You want to be their friend and they suddenly think that your 'friendly' advances are intended as otherwise, and then you're in a relationship you didn't even know you had."

Chris shook his head. "You're taking it way too seriously. I mean, surely Rebecca is an understanding girl. She'll identify with what you're going through after the fact. You want to complete the dare but you're not sure if you want to hurt or feelings, or if you even _will_."

"I'll hurt her feelings, Chris," Aaron said. He drove home thinking about how his friend's view on the subject was totally different.

* * *

"Hey, is, um, Rebecca there?" asked Aaron nervously as he called her family's number he'd seen in the church directory. 

There was a pause on the other end. It was a woman's voice, luckily, so it probably wasn't her father. "Can I ask who it is?"

"Yeah, this is Aaron," he replied, then added as an afterthought, "Um, I'm from church."

A sigh. "Aaron, I'm sorry, but I don't think Beck would be very happy about me giving the phone to her. She's not too familiar with talking on the telephone, or talking period. Perhaps you've noticed. She's a bit shy." A pause. "I'm Ruth, Beck's sister. It's nice to meet you. Maybe you could talk to her on Sunday?"

Aaron summoned his courage and spoke up. "Nice to meet you, Ruth. Listen, I realized Rebecca would be a little uncomfortable, but I've been trying to include her in some of the church activities and maybe get her to hang out a little bit with my friends. I know she's a little shy, but I thought that maybe—"

"So you have something planned tonight or something?" Ruth interrupted, not impatiently, but he could identify considering he thought himself that he was rambling.

"A bowling trip. Some people from the youth group are coming, and anyone's allowed to bring friends. I doubt we'll be late, even though we're going to stop for pizza on the way back. I just thought that Rebecca would enjoy it, and I didn't really want to leave her out."

Ruth obviously loved to sigh. "That's really sweet of you to include her. I appreciate it. As you can see, I look out for my sister a lot."

"You could come if you think that would make her feel a little bit more at ease."

Ruth audibly brightened with her next sentence. "Oh, that would be great! Thanks, Aaron. Like I said before, I really appreciate it."

And so it was that the bowling trip was planned, and Rebecca would be going. Aaron didn't know whether to look forward to it or to dread it.


	4. Chapter 3

**AN: **Thank you so much to everybody who has reviewed! It's such a surprise to log in to my inbox and see reviews there! You all have no idea how awesome it makes me feel to hear such kind words.

**IHateBlacks **(I do see where you're coming from, don't doubt that I do. But I think you're overlooking all the white people that are in jail for rape, murder, assault, stealing, etc. I personally think that people emphasize it when a black person does something wrong, just because their skin is darker. When some people are prejudice, they don't even realize it. What _we all_ need to realize is that they are probably thinking the same thing as us. We are all dirty, sinning, perverted, adn disgusting people, whether white or black or any other color. Instead of concentrating on what people of other races are doing wrong, why don't we think about what _we're_ doing wrong? I don't know teh specific Bible verse, but I read it a few days ago, and it made a very good point, as the Bible always does. It says that instead of thinking about what other people are doing (I think teh verse said 'the enemy', but that could apply to anyone you're having troubles getting along with at the moment), you should be worrying about what your sins are, so that when you come up in their conversation or have to go headlong into debate with them, nothing bad can be said about you or your behavior. That, lol and no offense, means not insulting them (them as in blacks, in your case), whether to their faces or behidn their backs. Know waht I mean? I'll try to find that verse for you. In the meantime, I'd like to hear back from you about what you think. I know I can be unclear when I make my points, so if you see any holes in it let me know...) **TheGreatSporkWielder **(Lol had to laugh when I saw your penname. That's awesome. I wish I could have been more creative with my own! Hey, thanks! I try) **Ginger** (Yes, my message with my Butterfly stories were all about God's will in the situations we have today. One of the hardest things we have to wait for God's will on is love... and I wish I could be more like Allie when it comes to that! Give us patience, Lord, Amen! Lol thanks. I love getting reviews from you. And don't think that by any means I am as patient as Allie, by the way. I suppose I wrote that story more to encourage myself to be more like that, you know? But I still believe that whatever stress we have to go through in life will be rewarding... whether on earth or in heaven. And we always know we have an AWESOME reward waiting in heaven!) **Gi Xian** (Hey, nice to hear from you again. Man you have a lot of time. I hardly have any time for reviews, and I hope I do in teh future because I'm getting behind on all of my favorite stories... You wouldn't believe how many people I have heard say teh same things as you have: it has helped me with my love life! Ha, it has helped me, too! Thanks!) **rappapop** (And the number one shortest review goes to: rappapop! Sorry, don't have a prize. I award you with my admiration, though! I can't ever seem to cut my reviews and replies down to such short ones like you can. It takes talent! By the way, I'm glad you think that about my poem, thank you!) **Trine **(Hey nice to hear from you again. I appreciate getting reviews from you. Anyway, thank you, and I can't think of anything else to say! Wow, that's a first. Sarah without something to say... some people would tell you to review more often)

_And without further ado:

* * *

_

_**Chapter Three**_

Aaron took a deep breath and walked up to knock on the front door of 124 E. Meadow Street. He blinked as someone walked up to the door. The woman that opened it was a smiling, friendly version of Rebecca.

She stuck out her hand. "I'm Ruth."

"I figured. Again, nice to meet you," Aaron said, taking her hand and shaking it with what he hoped was a firm grip. He wanted to make a good impression for Rebecca and her sister.

"Hey, come in. Becky should be down in a little bit," Ruth said, motioning him through the entry into a nice house with tan carpet and painted walls. An office was to the right, a small sitting room to the left, and a living room straight in front staring back at him.

Soft footfalls came down the stairs, and he felt her presence before he saw her. "Hi, Rebecca."

Rebecca smiled for a split second, one of those smiles that made you wonder whether you saw it or not, and then looked down at her feet. She looked nice. A pair of jeans and a blue-and-white T-shirt made a perfect bowling outfit, and he told her so.

"Awesome choice of wardrobe, madam," Aaron said, loosening up a bit. He grinned over at Ruth and bowed low to Rebecca.

And for the first time since Aaron had known her, the girl let out a soft laugh, which was more like a breathy giggle. Her sister obviously was surprised, too, for she gave him an approving look before ushering the two of them back out the door.

* * *

Aaron really didn't know what to do. He didn't want to seem forward to Rebecca's sister, but he didn't want to seem as if he were leaving her out. So he simply decided to intentionally miss out on all the fun his friends were having to sit by Rebecca and try to coax a few words out of her. 

"Are you having fun?" he asked her as she came back from her turn to bowl. She was doing well, had gotten two strikes. Apparently she'd been bowling several times before, and he was glad she didn't have to deal with the awkwardness of being bad at it.

She smiled slightly and nodded enthusiastically, as if she were mute and couldn't express her happiness.

"I remember when I was little; my parents would let me bowl occasionally. I couldn't support the ball with just one hand, even while I had the lightest ball there—probably ever made. I would just go up and drop it, and it would just barely roll down the lane with hardly any momentum. My parents finally decided they needed to teach me, and my dad showed me how to stand with my back to the lane and push the ball between my legs. I hardly ever hit a pin, though," Aaron smiled with the memory. "Sometimes I would push the ball so hard that I would fall over onto my stomach when the ball moved faster than I thought it would."

There was that flicker of a smile. The corners of her mouth came up every so slightly, as if her lips wanted to smile but something was stopping them. But Aaron could see the grin in her eyes when he looked over at her. _Ha_, he thought triumphantly. _I made her smile. Well, sorta.

* * *

_

Aaron's resolve was quickly fading. Rebecca had a harder shell to crack than he thought, and he'd spent the whole night telling jokes and making a fool of himself trying to break it.

_Algebra _was easier than trying to befriend her.

Could Ruth see through his comical and friendly veneer to what purpose was inside? He hoped not. She was a wonderful person, but far too insightful, and it wouldn't be great if her family didn't approve of him. It would be helpful if her sister was on _his _side.

And no matter what he told himself, he kept feeling that what he was doing was wrong. But it was harmless, really. At least that's what he told himself over and over and over again.


	5. Chapter 4

**AN: **Sorry it took me so long to update this. But I'm on a roll now, so enjoy it while you can!

**emandley **(Yes, there have been a few unexpected plot turns, and it's interesting even for me to see where it goes. Chapters four through seven are really shocking, even for me as the author! I enjoyed writing them, though. Ah, the reason for Rebecca's shyness...) **xXxkIkOkEnxXx **(Thank you so much. You have no idea how much you sticking up for me means. You're very much right, and it shows that you actually know what I'm talking about and that you really did read all of what I said and you believe it, too. I can't say thank you enough, really, adn I'm not just saying that.)

_**Chapter Four**_

Aaron felt like an idiot walking into the sanctuary long after everybody had gone home, especially because of a problem that seemed so small compared to some of the issues other people had. It wasn't as if he wanted to make his preoccupation with his 'problem' public, he just felt as if it were right to bring it to God at the church. The only person left in the entire building was the secretary, who was downstairs in the church office, probably having noticed him and wanting to give him some more privacy.

He'd grown up being taught that one could pray anywhere, but sitting here in the front row, he felt he had less distraction, other than his own thoughts.

_Lord, I don't know what to do about Rebecca, or what to think. Judging by how her sister is, she's a nice person. At least she isn't annoying and coquettish like some girls, and I'm glad that I didn't have to 'befriend' any girl of that type for the Dare. But, Lord? It _would _be fun to at least _talk _to her. I would get to know her better if she would open up to me and know that I am not there to hurt her or her feelings._

Guiltily, Aaron realized that he probably _was _going to hurt her feelings, and that his weren't exactly the purest of motives. She was so frail; he imagined his ill intentions snapping her in two. A picture of Rebecca bursting into tears filled his mind. Like a porcelain doll, she would crumple under the truth of his real motivations.

His guilt soon turned to anger as he turned his thoughts toward prayer again. _Well, what am I supposed to do, Lord? I wish things like these were clearer, a little easier to deal with. Am I supposed to go and say that I absolutely cannot accept nor do the Dare? I know inside that I may end up having to do this, but I have been waiting all of my life for this thing my siblings always talked about: the Dare! I know that's selfish, but is it wrong to wish that I hadn't been given such a difficult and unfair Dare?_

As it happened, after only about five minutes in prayer, his thoughts turned to other things. In them, Rebecca had come to the church to do some dialogue with God on her own, found him there, and began to talk to him. They talked about several things, and he told her about the Dare and how she should play along with him, pretending to be friends just so he could solve it.

_Oh, how that would make things so much simpler_, Aaron sighed. He frowned. _So much for being excited about being the Dared. I would have been so much more cheerful if it had been a different one…_

And it only helped that he was a boy and was taking the risk of stealing her affections.

And having his taken.

* * *

Rebecca had just made it to the door, her hand on the knob and ready to turn it, when she heard her sister's voice. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath for patience, she turned around to face Ruth. 

Instead, when she allowed herself to see again, her sister was only a few feet away from her, a look of understanding and sympathy on her face. In the place of a suspicious inquiry as to where she was going and why she was leaving the house, Rebecca simply received a warm hug and was sent on her way.

As she hopped in her car and headed for the church, she silently thanked God for Ruth. She didn't know what she would do without her sister in these hard times.

When she arrived at the building, she went around to the basement parking lot, knowing Sherrie would be there and wanting to talk to her.

Her friend greeted her with hugs, one of the never-ending hugs she always got from the people who knew. Smiling, she sat down and told her everything; savoring the great feeling she felt when she was able to tell someone all of her feelings, especially knowing that Sherrie would always keep her confidentiality.

* * *

The church was quiet and Aaron heard the car drive around to the back, even the double doors opening downstairs. He was done, and in case the owner of the noisy car was waiting to use the sanctuary for some private time with God, he'd better be polite and vacate the place. 

Pushing through the doors of the building and sitting in the front seat of his car, his thoughts were on Rebecca and the thoughts he'd had of sharing a conversation with her. And to his surprise, he actually _wanted_ to talk to her, other than just wanting to befriend her because of the Dare.


	6. Chapter 5

_**Chapter Five**_

Chris blinked patiently at him. "Just nod and _smile_."

"Hey, I'm serious about all of this!" Aaron nearly shouted, growing more and more frustrated with every second of the conversation.

"You know I've never understood any of this God stuff," Chris said, his tone more exasperatedly than at first, as if taking a hint from his friend.

"And maybe if you would listen to me, you would. Maybe you're not the wisest choice of person to talk to about this Rebecca deal. I mean, you're not even listening to me about any of the stuff that really matters: like what God wants, or how I think I might have to give up the Dare to not hurt her feelings," Aaron set his cup of coffee down on the table with a loud _clank_, causing his friend's gaze to stop wandering and focus its attention on him. "All you care about is the stuff I say about Rebecca."

"She sounds like a challenge," Chris commented, as if agreeing to something Aaron had just said, when in fact agreement was _not_ what he'd been looking for.

"Yes, a challenge!" Aaron walked to the door and motioned his grinning guest out the door. "A challenge for sick men like you."

Chris hadn't been a very worthy assistant, but he'd been Aaron's best friend since fourth grade. They'd had their rocky moments, and had actually not been friends for their freshman and sophomore years, mostly because he had grown up firmly in the Christian faith and Chris had not. Chris was the type of person that was totally indifferent to everything. While Aaron got good grades and cared about what went on in his life, Chris could care less what his grade point average was, or what the student council was doing as a fund raiser that month.

He did, however, know the exact date of Homecoming and had his prom date picked out several months ahead of time. When it came to women, he was anything _but_ unconcerned.

And that was why Aaron had made a horrible mistake in choosing that particular friend to be his assistant in the Dare. But now it was too late to change; Chris knew all of it and could not simply erase his own memory. And for all Aaron knew, he could go and tell everybody that his friend was trying to seduce Rebecca—which was far from the truth—and wouldn't think a thing of it.

At least until the friend who was trying to seduce Rebecca socked him in the jaw. And at the moment, that's precisely what Aaron felt like doing, and would probably do, to anyone who ticked him off in the next hour.

A _month _had passed since he'd been issued the Dare. He had completely backed off Rebecca for the time being, waiting to figure out what he should do. He would talk to her occasionally, or _attempt _to carry on a conversation with her, which would be returned with small nods or shakes of her head. They were characteristic nods and shakes, but they were not enough to dialogue with. It was like trying to converse with a Chinese person who did not know what you were talking about and you did not know anything the other person was saying. Rebecca was talking a foreign language to him, and he had yet to even figure out what that language was. He couldn't even learn it.

As for the Lord, He was supplying nothing but unsure feelings about the situation. And Aaron was beginning to think that was going to be His answer: don't walk on thin ice. It could crack and betray you any second of any minute, of any hour, of any day.

But wasn't that what he was trying to do? Crack Rebecca's shell?

Aaron had a feeling it wasn't working well.


	7. Chapter 6

_**Chapter Six**_

It was confirmed.

Rebecca came home with the news that her family and group of friends had been dreading for the longest time. The news that had her mother making her a delicious meal, probably three-course, and her sister Ruth making her favorite dessert recipe.

The news that had her sister hugging her as she came in the door, an embrace that lasted several minutes. And when Rebecca started to cry, Ruth knew it. The bond between them, in the past few years, through all the difficulty, had done nothing but grow, and as if the pain was telegraphed through that bond, she felt it.

And she knew.

* * *

Three months. _Three months!_ Aaron rubbed his forehead, a headache growing within. The time was going by faster and faster.

The longer he put it off, the more quickly the sand ran out. He could hear the clocks ticking in his head, the soft _pshhhhhhhhhhhh_ of the sand falling from the top of the hourglass to the bottom.

He had three months, _twelve weeks_—it always seemed shorter when he thought of it as twelve weeks—to either complete the Dare or let the youth group know he couldn't do it. The days were ticking away, and he still needed to talk to Rebecca. She had been in church but had been spending an awful lot of time with her family, only coming to youth group every other week.

It was a Sunday again, and he'd spent the last twenty minutes talking with God. _I haven't even talked with her, Lord, and my uneasiness is growing. Does that mean that I am supposed to talk to her? To befriend her?_

Aaron knew that if he just became her friend, it would be all right. It would be okay just to lose a friend when it came time to admit to everybody it had been the Dare. _But God, if Chris is right, like he can be—however rarely—then I am also at risk of her coming to have feelings for me. And vice versa. And I can't have that happen; no, it would be far too painful to stand up in front of the entire youth group and her, Rebecca who has either come to like me or vice versa, and tell them that the entire friendship had been a fraud._

**_But if you really come to like her, it will not be a 'fraud' relationship_**.

* * *

Rebecca, entering the sanctuary for her now weekly quiet times, she froze when she saw Aaron sitting in the front pew, leaning forward, elbows on knees and chin on fist. Her first thoughts was to give up her alone time and go back home to do it in her room like she did on weekdays, but suddenly her legs wouldn't move.

She'd grown up with him her entire life, whether he knew it or not. He probably didn't remember the girl she was before she went away to her grandparents, for she was a different person when she came back. She had grown up in the church, and only the older adults remembered.

Aaron was a nice person, had always been a nice kid, and she'd even had a crush on him before she went away. But when she went away everything changed for her. If anyone to show her attentions, she would have wanted Aaron to show them to her, but she would never wish for him to have any feelings for her. It would be too painful, for both him and for her.

* * *

Aaron felt the presence of somebody behind him, had heard the door close softly as the person entered the sanctuary. He took his time in straightening and turning around.

He was surprised at who he found there. Rebecca was staring at him, but this time there was calmness to the way her gaze held his. For the first time since she'd first come to the church, she looked him straight in the eye without looking scared to death.

That was what gave him courage for his next sentence. "Come sit with me." He didn't expect her to actually sit beside him, but she did. Slowly, coming down the isle between the chairs, she walked with poise toward him and gently sat down in the chair next to him.

Rebecca looked over at him expectantly, and he said, "I don't understand why you won't talk to me."

He hadn't known that he'd had any frustration for her, but as he spoke this sentence, it practically oozed with impatience. His statement was a question he'd wanted to ask for years, and in the last three months his unknown irritation had only grown. He'd ascribed his aggravation to the Dare, believing it himself until today.

And to his complete astonishment, she spoke in reply.

* * *

Rebecca knew the minute the sentence was out of Aaron's mouth that she would end up having to tell him the entire story. "Aaron, I can't talk to you or anyone else because I can't risk having friends."

His initial look of surprise changed to amazement and then to confusion in the space of only a few seconds. Before he could say anything more, she began her story.


	8. Chapter 7

_**Chapter Seven**_

"I don't think you probably remember this, but I grew up in this church. I went to your school and I knew you well. I was a wild and crazy girl; my mother often told me and still tells me. I was energetic and hyper, the most cheerful girl in the church and in the school. My whole family called me by the name of Becky, and that is probably why you don't remember me," Rebecca explained, which was the starting of her story.

Aaron was blown away, and she only sat there patiently, knowing that it would only be far harder for him as she continued. "No, I don't think I remember. Continue."

"Well, all of that changed, including my name, when my family noticed there was a change in me. I was starting to lose weight, and I had quite a few bruises. I'm sure you know what's coming. I had cancer. A mild case of leukemia. My family and I moved in with my grandparents who lived in a different city, the same city that my doctor was in and also only a block from one of the best hospitals in the state. It was better for me, not having to talk about it to anyone else, not having to explain it repeatedly and receive hugs and sympathy that would only make it harder for me.

"We'd caught the cancer at an early stage, since we'd gone straight to the doctors when we became suspicious. A friend of my mother's she'd had while she was in high school had been a leukemia patient, and she remembered some of the symptoms. I was glad for it later. They got me on a new treatment. It was the best treatment for me."

* * *

"It was like a miracle, Aaron," Rebecca said, and even though tears were gathering in her eyes there was a smile on her face. It wasn't the first time he'd noticed, but he realized then that she was beautiful. Here she was, pouring her heart, her whole life story out to him, and she had never said more than a few words to him in the past few years. And she was smiling about it.

Aaron wanted to smile with her, but instead prompted her. "What was a miracle?"

"My father saved my life. He gave his bone marrow to me, and my body didn't reject it. It was like my body embraced what my father gave me, and the cancer didn't spread. Instead, the doctors told me six chances in ten it wouldn't come back.

"So when my family and I came back home, we thought everything would go back to normal. But I was changed, somehow. I couldn't be energetic and happy like I used to; I couldn't be the person was before the cancer. No matter what the doctor's said, what my family said, I told myself I couldn't risk getting close to anyone, nobody but my family. I couldn't go and make friendships all over the place and then have people suffer with me if the cancer came back. There were still four chances that the leukemia would return, and I knew I had to make a choice. I chose to make it less painful for everyone. My family would suffer if I died, and it would be hard for them. I couldn't help that but I could spare everyone else I could have gotten close to."

Aaron took a deep breath, not believing what he was hearing. Hardly knowing what he was doing, he took her hand as tears streamed down her face. "So you everything but cut yourself off from the rest of the world, other than your family. You decided to be quiet, thinking that nobody would take notice when you were there and nobody would take notice when you suddenly weren't. Rebecca—"

"I know what you're thinking," Rebecca said, cutting him off and rendering him speechless. Since when did this quiet girl cut interrupt? She didn't even talk when it _was_ her turn to talk! "It's what my entire family was thinking, still is thinking. But I am still firm in my resolve. But you… you seemed determined to puncture that outer wall I'd built up around me. And now, don't you realize? I can't go back to what it was like before! You're officially a friendship. You know just about everything."

Aaron tried to speak, but she held up her hand.

"But you don't know _all _of it," she continued. "A few weeks ago, I started feeling tired again. I noticed bruises. I told my family, and my mother immediately booked an appointment. And a few days ago, I found out my leukemia is back. Turns out my chance is one of the four chances where it comes back, and you know what? I'm okay with it."

Aaron was wordless. First one blow, and then the other. One, she had cancer again. Two, she was okay with it. "Why are you okay with it? Don't you feel any anger at God?"

"I know, and yes, I was mad at God. That was the first time, though, when I was a lot younger, before I talked to Sherrie, the church secretary. She explained a lot to me. She said that God wouldn't have let it happen if he didn't want it to. It's in my plan, and it's up to Him if He wants me to live or not," Rebecca looked up at him, this time with a sad smile on her face. "It took a lot of prayer to trust my entire life to God, even though I knew the whole time that it was in His hands in the first place. It came as quite a shock, I know, but I have a feeling it did happen for a reason, and in a little while I'll be ready to tell people.

"But right now, I think I'm just going to listen to God. He has a reason for all of this, and my mother says that He will use this sickness to benefit in some way, if I let Him, if I trust Him."


	9. Chapter 8

**AN:** **Wish You Were Here **(I know where you're coming from, and I forgot to put that in my author's note for that poem. I had planned on it, but have forgotten about it until now. Where I was coming from when I wrote that poem: If I knew that I could feel so full by believing in God and suddenly that belief was taken away, I would feel empty. If I knew what I had previously had faith in and teh feelings I felt, being able to have an explanation for so many things, I would feel like I was missing something. I understand completely what you're saying and I appreciate you giving your view without actually flaming my poem) **merryman **(Thank you! I look forward to writing the next chapters. I can't wait to put what I have thought up for this story into words, and your reviews along with everybody else's are keeping me going!) **Simone **(I always thought faith was very hard to explain. You've done an awesome job of doing that. I wish I could explain it that easily. Thank you!) **Mische **(Thanks! I appreciate your review) **Jess **(Read on and you will find out! I'm glad you like that. I'm beginning to love my characters in this story, and I don't want this story to end!)

* * *

_**Chapter Eight**_

Rebecca could tell Aaron didn't know what to do to or say, but she kept looking at him and he kept looking back. After several long moments of silence, he surprised her by speaking.

"For years now, I've known you as the Rebecca who doesn't talk and is shy for no apparent reason. Now I know what that reason is. It comes as quite a shock to hear this steady stream of words come from you who hasn't said a word to me for the years since you went away," Aaron told her. "And now I understand why you were never anybody's friend, but I don't regret becoming one of those few. I'm really sorry that you have had to go through this."

And with that said, before Rebecca could reply, he'd leaned forward to embrace her. Her eyes stung with tears at his reaction; she hadn't expected to get such a response from him. Sniffing and wishing she hadn't started to cry, she said over his shoulder, "I say this without meaning offense, but I want you to know that I don't need your pity. I know I should be thankful for what I have, even though my life will probably be shorted in the end. I have been given so much, and it was God's mercy that created me in the beginning. Why should I cry about having it taken away? I should be thankful that I got to live as long as I did. If He had thought it better, He wouldn't have made me in the first place."

Aaron hugged her tighter. "You have a better outlook on this than I do, Rebecca. You should be proud of that. I would be angry at God if I were in your situation, angry that He would deal me these issues."

"That's how I was when I was younger, when it first came," she replied. "But several long talks with Sherrie and everyone in my family have brought me to my present outlook. I know God is supplying for me along my way, just by the people that are helping me get through it. And Aaron? I think you're one of them."

* * *

Guilt stabbed at him from every direction, both from inside and out. He was near tears himself, both from the things the once wordless Rebecca had just told him and from the lie he was to her. Here she was, telling him everything! And he was only there to befriend her, only there because of the Dare.

_But I _want_ to be her friend suddenly, not only because I want to make myself feel better about the Dare or solve it, but because I really would like to get to know her_, Aaron told himself. And even though this was true, his conscience would not stop prickling.

Rebecca drew out of the hug and he saw tears streaming down her face. More than ever he wanted to blurt the entire thing, his position and everything, to her. He wanted to be honest just like she was being honest. "Rebecca…"

She shook her head sharply. "I don't want you to tell me that you don't think that's true. Do you think it was a small coincidence that we both like to have some time alone at the church after everybody goes home? I don't think so. God's hand is definitely in this."

He hadn't expected her answer to be like it was. _She thought I was going to protest to her saying I was part of God's plan to help her through her leukemia._

She hadn't wiped her face and made no move to do so, and the tears had stopped gathering. Instead she simply sat looking at him, and for the first time in his life the moment didn't seem awkward. There was silence and nothing to do but look at each other, and he didn't feel the need to say anything.

Unable to resist it anymore, he got up to the front of the sanctuary where a back room always had a box of Kleenex. When he came back he sat down beside her again and turned her face toward his, wiping away the tearstains. She said a quiet 'Thank you" but didn't start the conversation again.

His guilt and mistake temporarily forgotten, he sat back to study her again. Her reddish-brown hair was long and layered, falling straight down her back. Her brown eyes matched it, and they were a fascinating color: a deep, dark maroon, like a darker shade of the red clay you find in and around lakes. He also knew enough about cancer to know that this beautiful hair will probably not be there in the months to come.

Aaron asked as softly as he could, "Chemotherapy?"

She only nodded and dropped her eyes, under the pretense of studying her nails. He'd heard rumors about the treatments so harsh that even fingernails were lost. Would her long, healthy nails be gone also? "I understand you don't want to be pitied, but I can't help but flinch when I remember what you're going to have to go through. Don't you sometimes ask God why He couldn't have just taken the pain of the treatments away? The humiliation of not having your hair?" He took a deep breath and wanted to curse his temper. "I believe, like you, that God definitely does have a plan for you and that this is in it, but don't you wonder why He made it so hard to do?"

Rebecca nodded again but spoke this time. "You don't know how many times I've wondered that, how many times I've prayed that. But I guess you'd call me resigned to my fate, even though Sherrie doesn't call it a fate. She says that not having faith in God is fate. That not going to heaven is fate, but I who have had the strength to get through all of this in the end will have better faith and trust in Him than most people who live normal lives."

Smiling, Aaron squeezed her hand. "God obviously knew what he was doing when He assigned you to this task. He knows I wouldn't be able to take it all so patiently."

She smiled back, a teasing smile that of course he had never seen on her face before. "You know you're not exactly going to get out of this, though. Now that you're my friend you're going to have to pray for me every day. I've told you my entire story and devoted two hours of my quiet time to talking to you, and I'm not going to let you ever live it down."

"I'll do more than pray for you, Rebecca," Aaron said seriously after a few moments of laughing. "I'm going to be ringing your phone off the hook twice a week and you're going to come with me to do something fun. Me, you, Ruth, and if you want, Sherrie, and even your parents, are you going to have the time of our lives with you before any of this stuff gets you down. And when you lose all your hair and don't want to go out in public anymore, I am going to be on your doorstep, ringing your doorbell every twenty seconds, and we are going to play board games together and I am going to buy you an X-Box."

Rebecca was surprised at the way he said all of this so bluntly. And the serious way he said it, even though he was half teasing, made her believe that what he said was true. In reply, she smiled and said, "Thanks, Aaron, for listening. And thank you in advance for all of the things you're going to do."

She could tell that for a few moments he was surprised that she hadn't protested everything he'd said, but Aaron soon recovered and said very seriously, "No, thank _you_, Rebecca, for trusting me enough to tell me everything."


	10. Chapter 9

_**Chapter Nine**_

Rebecca didn't regret telling Aaron everything, but when she arrived home and saw Ruth's questioning look, she was wondering why she told him herself.

Sighing, she sat down at the table across from her sister and said, "Aaron was at the church. Apparently he had the same idea as me about coming after the service for a little bit of time by himself. Well, I told him everything."

"_Everything_?"

"Everything," Rebecca replied grimly. "I—"

Ruth had a smile on her face. "It was your choice, you don't have to explain. If I were him, I would be exasperated by you not talking to him at all."

"He was dumfounded, really, when all of a sudden I said a steady stream of words for half an hour. You should have seen the look on his face. One blow after another, first I was actually _talking _to him, second I told him about my cancer and that he knew me as a little kid but didn't remember."

"I'm sure he was surprised," Ruth agreed, handing Rebecca a handful of her cookies.

"You're always baking, aren't you?" after a nod from her sister, Rebecca continued. "I told him that there was no going back and now that he was my friend he was not going to get out of it."

"He's sticking around," the words _until the end _went unspoken, but they were still there.

Rebecca shrugged. "And he promised me that I was going to get sick of him by the time my hair started falling out."

"He _said _that!"

"Well, he didn't say it _exactly_ like that, but he told me that we were going to squeeze in as much fun before the more difficult things happen."

"As in…"

"As in doing things two or three times a week, and I can invite anybody I want to. Of course you're coming," Rebecca said. She frowned. "I don't know if I'll invite Sherrie. I have a feeling Aaron will insist of paying for me and everyone I invite, whatever we end up doing. So I think it will be better if it's just us three."

"You deserve such a nice guy," Ruth said with a grin.

"He's outta here after I start getting treatments," laughed Rebecca. "He did say, though, that when I didn't feel like going anywhere he would be on my front doorstep with a board game."  
This sent Ruth into more laughter.

* * *

"Hello?" Aaron heard Rebecca's voice on the other end of the line. She'd answered on the second ring.

"I told you I wouldn't leave you alone," Aaron teased.

All that he heard in reply was a soft laugh.

"Well before I invite you to do something tomorrow, I want to know how you have come to have such great acting skills."  
"What do you mean?"

"I mean how you pretended to be nervous and self-conscious when put on the spot when the problem was that you just couldn't be friends with anybody," Aaron explained. "You know how you always rushed to the bathroom when on the receiving end of too much attention."

Again Rebecca laughed. "That wasn't feigned, Aaron. I guess I'm more at ease with you now that I've told you everything… and now that you remember the person I was when I was younger, before the leukemia. I don't know what it is, it's just something happened to my confidence since I went away."

"Why? You don't really have a reason to be afraid or nervous around anybody," Aaron said, frowning even though she couldn't see his facial expressions over the phone.

She sighed. "I don't know why. It's just something that happened. My parents always forced me to go to youth group and church because I was home schooled and they said I needed to get out some more. Throughout the year or so I was gone; the only places I went to were the hospital and home. I never had to deal with anybody but my family, and so when I came back I suddenly became nervous when I had to talk to other people. My self-consciousness only helped my determination not to make friends."

"When I smiled at you at youth group a while ago…"

"Okay, so I really wasn't _that _nervous, since I knew you wouldn't care whether I made a fool out of myself or not, but I didn't want to talk to you."

"Aha! Do you realize what an idiot I felt like? Anne told me that I might have made you a little freaked out by suddenly wanting to be your friend," Aaron said, relieved to have his answers. Before she could answer, he went on, "Tonight I want to take you and Ruth and if you want, Sherrie, to the movies. Your choice of show and one snack and a drink."

"Oh!" her surprise was audible.

"And don't you even think about telling me that you're paying for yourself. All of these treats in the coming weeks are on me, and I'm not listening to any protests from you. Ma'am."

"Yes, sir."

"I'm going to hang up, and I will see you at six tonight."

Aaron didn't feel proud, even though he'd already solved the Dare. He was officially Rebecca's friend, but he wasn't happy about it. He wanted to be her friend and forget about the Dare, to tell the entire youth group that the Dare was off and that it was too cruel to solve it.

But eventually Rebecca was going to find out, was going to be angry at him for it. And he would feel like an idiot yet again. _You are an idiot, Aaron, for accepting this Dare in the first place_.

But another nagging thought contradicted the first one. _If you hadn't, you wouldn't have become Rebecca's friend._


	11. Chapter 10

**AN: merryman **(Thanks!I appreciate your reviews. I have to say, there have been better jobs done of stories like this. I normally don't cry during movies or books, but I have read a few books and seen a few movies like this, for example A Walk to Remember or such, and they always manage to make me teary-eyed! I don't think I'm quite capable of making my readers cry though... ) But I'm glad you think I'm doing justice to this story! Right on about your opinion about racism! Ditto! I always find it extremely exciting when somebody shares my view about this... as you can probably see. Ah-hem. Thanks so much!) **Crystal **(Lol thank you andI love bowling too. It seems to be theouting activity. You'd think that for all teh times I've been bowling with my sister that I would actually be good at it. Ha. And I am eating goldfish too. In my heart. Goodness! Adn I though I sent long reviews. Lol, oh thanks, I'm touched. More where that came from coming later! I just don't want to make it too sappy... and yes feel free to predict. This story has been mostly predictable from teh start. Yeah lol Aaron's mine no stealing. Well, eh-hem, there are some nice guys in my church... and your reaciton was just what I was going for. Lol my reviews consist mostly of yours. Thank you! I'm touched. REally I'm not just saying that. OKay I'll hustle.) **Emandley **(Yes I was on a roll for a while with this story. Thanks for reviewing!)

_**Chapter Ten**_

Rebecca stood in front of the mirror, thinking about everything she'd told Aaron and what he had said in reply. It had been a good conversation…

Chemotherapy.

Her head would be bald. All of the hair that she had grown in the years since then, the soft brown hair that Aaron had recently said he had admired. If only he knew what pain had been sent through her the second he'd said that. All of this hair that he admired would be gone. In a matter of weeks.

As she stood, her thighs up against the bathroom counter as she pressed herself closer to the mirror, she imagined what her present self would look like without hair. And she hated it.

That would include her eyebrows. Her eyebrows!

It was as if this plague, this disease; this curse was taking everything slowly, eventually her life. And even though her parents and sister, and even Aaron and Sherrie seemed to be positive about all of it, she knew it was coming. Oh, she knew what she was in for with this thing. And even though most of the time she was able to maintain control of her emotions, she was not completely what she'd told Aaron.

She had to keep telling herself she was not angry with God, but the more she thought about what was approaching, she felt her resolve growing weak.

_Oh, Lord, I don't want to lose faith. I want to believe that You have it all under control. I want to know without doubt that this is what You meant for me._

And yet Rebecca knew that this reason was exactly why she wanted to be angry with the Lord. Because He _did_ know what He was doing, and what He was doing was letting her have cancer.

* * *

Aaron knew that Rebecca would not be starting school with him. A week away, his senior year of high school was going to be Rebecca-less. 

Meanwhile, he had something bigger to deal with. The Dare was supposed to be completed by Christmas… and he already had it finished. He had befriended Rebecca, risked everything. And now he had to deal with the reason he had first begun to talk to her. He couldn't go to youth group and have the juniors—the only ones that knew he was the Dared and they the Darers—see that he had already completed it.

And he couldn't tell Rebecca and expect her to take it lightly. She had told him everything. Everything.

* * *

Rebecca lay on the couch, staring at the TV but not comprehending anything that was happening on the screen. She was deep in thought, and when Ruth came to join her but didn't say anything, she felt sorry for her sister. Her sister would probably suffer along with her, be beside her holding her hand every step of the way. And although Rebecca appreciated it she knew that it would hurt Ruth as well. 

She smiled when her sister took a deep breath to speak, as if the whole time they sat she had been thinking about what to say or how to start a conversation. "Are you thinking about leukemia?"

Rebecca nodded and looked over at her sister. "And how wonderful of a sister you have been, and how I don't want you to feel the pain with me."

She shook her head. "Beck, you know that you can't protect me from that. No matter how stubborn you are, you cannot alienate me like you have done the rest of the world just to spare me."

"You talk like everything is going to be fine, Ruth," Rebecca said exasperatedly, tears gathering in her eyes. "You act like this is just a phase, a chapter in my life—in _our_ lives—that we will get through and move on to other things. But it's not. I can feel it in here that it won't be."

Before Ruth could speak, Rebecca lifted a hand to silence her. "Ruth, I know you and Mom and Dad want to think that. I know that Grandma and Grandpa tell themselves that it is going to be just like last time, that I am going to move on and live the rest of my life moderately healthy. But sometimes I can't have the hope that you can, not when I know what I will have to go through just to live. Sometimes I wonder if it would be better just to die without the chemotherapy."

Ruth's eyes widened and she hurriedly got up out of her chair and came over to kneel at her sister's feet and gently take her hand. "Isn't it hard to live without that hope?"

Amazed at Ruth's words, Rebecca raised her eyebrows. She didn't even try to tell her that she was wrong about what she'd said. "It is. But I guess I cope with it."

This turned her mind back to everything she'd had to cope with before, the tiredness, the bruises, the hair loss, the pity she'd received from her parents. Everything she'd gone through, and she'd always heard that trials strengthened character and one's relationship with God. So why was her faith wavering now?


	12. Chapter 11

_**Chapter Eleven**_

"Ah, bowling," Rebecca sighed, grinning over at Aaron. "This brings back memories."

"Good ones for you?"

She shrugged.

"Bad ones for me," Aaron told her. "One of my first efforts to become friends with you. Didn't turn out too well. I felt so cut off, and you and your sister kept exchanging glances. I felt like I was missing something. And you two whispered to each other while I wasn't looking!"

Rebecca only laughed, and in truth, she didn't know what to say to that. He knew the reasons she had been 'shy'. Why repeat them?

"It was like in elementary school when the big kids had their group, and they wouldn't talk to you or even _look _at you unless you were in it. Which you, of course, never were," Aaron angled his head as he sipped on his straw. "Remind me why we are here, bowling, when we did the same thing a few months ago?"

"Because we have run out of things to do. And this alley was cheap on Wednesday nights."

Bowling was the only thing to do with Rebecca that they could do alone. Of course, movies were off limits because people might think the wrong thing. Hanging out at Wendy's or some other fast food restaurant was something he and his friends did, not a thing you do when you're with Rebecca. The Rec. center was not something he would suggest to her either either, considering she bruised easily nowadays. And the only gentle not-bruising activity there was the hot tub.

Strictly forbidden. He didn't even allow his thoughts to go there for more than a few seconds.

"You're too nice," said Aaron, meaning every word of it. "Picking something cheap to do just because of me."

She shrugged.

"And you know that the real reason you picked bowling is because it's the only thing you can beat me at."

"More like whip your butt," Rebecca replied.

Aaron shot her a double-take, astounded that she would use such a term. She seemed so polite and sophisticated; he hadn't realized the word 'butt' was in her vocabulary.

Rebecca grinned. "I am capable of being playful."

He sat back in his chair and studied her, putting down his pop but keeping his hand around with so it wouldn't be awkward to not have something to do with his hands. After several moments of just staring at her for no reason whatsoever, he realized she was getting embarrassed.

"Speaking of playing, it's been your turn for quite a while," he said quietly, supplying a way for her to get out of the awkward situation.

For a few seconds Rebecca just stared back, as if she wasn't going to acknowledge his statement. But after a while, she blinked slowly and got up to get her ball.

* * *

Rebecca didn't know whether she wished Ruth had come along or not. It was great to have some time alone with Aaron to just hang out and talk about things… and to beat him at bowling. Again.

They'd run out of things to do. Board games with both their families, hanging out at each other's houses, they'd seen every good movie in theatres, had spent an entire evening at Cold Stone, and had even been to several evening services at church and a few concerts at some Christian-owned coffee shops.

There was one thing they hadn't done, though, and tonight she was in the mood to do it.

She came back to where the two of them had been sitting, sliding into the chair beside him. "I win."

"Grrrr," was all Aaron said, moving to start the game over again.

Rebecca held up her hand. "Wait. Skip bowling, the youth group and I have done it so many times it's not even funny."

"Why didn't you tell me this?"

"Because I wanted the satisfaction of beating you. Now," she grinned at the look on his face and paused to do so before continuing. "There is a certain activity that we have not done."

* * *

Aaron raised his eyebrows, not letting her know that he was stunned… or what was going through his head that made him stunned. "And what might this _activity_ be?"

"We have not been to Wally World," Rebecca said with finality, as if this statement explained everything.

He didn't know whether to be relieved or puzzled at this statement. "And…?"

"Come on," she said, shaking her head as if she couldn't believe that he didn't know what she was talking about. "Let's drive to Wal-Mart and I'll show you what we will do."


	13. Chapter 12

_**Chapter Twelve**_

Rebecca led him past the rows of office supplies, makeup, and whatever else was on the shelves. He was focused on her hand in his as she tugged him through the aisles. She did this more in the way a little girl eagerly hurries her dad to see the new toy mommy got her from the store that day.

Finally she came to a halt and dropped his hand in front of the furniture section, saying, "Bean bags, leather couches, and two massaging chairs… the world of relaxation."

And without further ado she went straight to the massaging chairs, which sat right smack dab in the middle of all the rows of furniture. Plopping herself happily one of them and gesturing for him to follow suit and sit on the one next to her, she closed her eyes and pressed a button on the remote control without even looking.

"It looks like you know these chairs pretty well," Aaron said, reclining in his chair and pressing a few buttons, feeling the chair's reactions. His own custom massage, right at his fingertips.

"Ruth and I used to come here all the time to sit in these chairs, especially when we were bored. Nobody comes back here to this corner of the store, especially in the evenings. Sometimes we both would fall asleep and wake up a half hour later to my sister's friend who works here shutting off our massages."

Aaron laughed and opened his eyes, looking over at her to see that she was looking back at him. "I never knew this side of you."

Rebecca smiled. "You also never knew that I am quite a chatterbox when I want to be. I could sit here and tell you stories all night and in the morning I would still have more words to say. You also never knew that I had cancer. And still now you have many things to find out about me. One thing that you don't already know is that I have already started some more tests, and my next treatment is going to be next week."

"How many days will you be in the hospital?" asked Aaron with a frown. He tried to take this confession in stride, but he heard his voice crack and knew she would see through it.

"A few days," she replied with a shrug.

"I am going to be there right with you," he told her, and when she started to protest he said, "And you're not going to say or do anything to make me change my mind. I've already decided that I'm going to take this with you."

* * *

Rebecca was relieved when she looked over at Aaron this time to see that he had closed his eyes again, as if ending the argument. Tears were gathering in her eyes and she was glad he couldn't see them. Wiping them away shakily, she told him, "Aaron, I never expected you to be so kind to me. In a way I was waiting for you to back off, every day I kept thinking that your calls would be getting shorter bit by bit. I also did want you to just leave me alone and forget you even were my friend because it's going to make it all the more painful for me and for you.

"But deep down I wanted you to be true to your word and be there the entire time, through all the chemotherapy and everything, playing board games with me like you said when I didn't feel like going out in public. Aaron, I know too that I cannot let you be my friend. I can't let you go through the same pain Ruth went through, because I now know that you've got a soft heart. I can't bear to break it when I leave."

To her surprise, when she ended this sentence, Aaron didn't speak for a full few minutes, but instead picked up her hand with a gentle touch. He touched the tips of her fingers with his and pressed his palm into hers before weaving their two hands together. It was as if she were made of porcelain or that she might shatter if he touched her too roughly, so soft he picked up her hand and squeezed it.

"You know that I can't do that, just let you forget me like that, because I know I won't ever forget you," he said softly, and for a few seconds Rebecca thought she was dreaming.

"You're not real," she whispered, and she leaned her head back and relaxed fully.

* * *

"Rebecca!" she heard her name being called gently.

She wanted to tell the voice to go away, that she wanted to sleep more. She wanted to tell the hand on her arm that it was a dream and that she was in her bed.

But then Rebecca became more aware of her surroundings and realized she was not in her bed but sitting slightly upright and her eyelids slowly opened groggily.

Aaron stood there smiling into her face, saying, "Rebecca, you fell asleep. Wally World is closing and they want us out of their massaging chairs. Ruth's friend let us know that before they kicked us out or got us in trouble for loitering."

Rebecca wanted to hit her head to make herself wake up. She forced herself to keep her eyes open as she looked up at him and said, "I'm tired."

"I understand."

He probably knew what she was going through. Being exhausted was one of those things that came along with it, and she couldn't help it.

Instead she felt herself being pulled up by Aaron and having his arm slipped around her shoulders and leading her to his car. The minute he turned on the heater and she felt the soft leather seats she knew she was going to fall asleep again.

* * *

Aaron parked the car next to Rebecca's driveway and smiled over at her. He'd been glancing over at her throughout the entire drive home and his heart warmed at the sight of her.

Out cold with her head lolled to the side and facing him.

It wasn't to be helped, and although he didn't know what her reaction would be to her odd wake-up, he couldn't resist.

Leaning forward and taking her cheek in his hand, he gently pressed his lips to hers, but only for a few seconds. It was a soft kiss, and she woke slowly, her eyes lifting open just as he planted another kiss on her forehead.

* * *

Rebecca was confused at first, but as her mind started working again she realized what had happened. Aaron was looking at her as if she might blow a gasket with anger, and he looked almost repentant.

The look vanished when she smiled.


	14. Chapter 13

**AN: LadyLyriss** (I think you're right. It is not so much a history of mankind as what you explained. I don't mind, thanks for letting me know that. I sort of intended it to be more but couldn't remember some of the things I was going to include in it) **Me1 **(Thanks for your advice, I think you're right on some of those, but I never meant it to be political. I'll go back and revise it and see what needs to be done about that part of it! Thanks!)

_**Chapter Thirteen**_

Aaron thought he might turn purple with rage. "You told Teri. You told Teri! _You told Teri!_"

Chris looked away guiltily. "You aren't the _only _one that had a bit of romance last night, okay?"

"What, just because you like her, you have to betray one of your best friends?" asked Aaron with disgust. "You could have told her _anything _else humiliating about me… now the whole youth group probably knows. _The whole youth group_!"

"So Teri called you and told you," Chris said, his face and temperament completely calm again as he looked over at his friend.

Aaron sent him a glare, walked out of the house, and stalked out the door. Without forgetting to slam the thing behind him. _Lord, oh _Lord! _Please help Rebecca not to have found out. I need to tell her this myself._

"I should have known," Rebecca said quietly.

Aaron looked down in shame. She'd shown him in, her face completely cool as if she hadn't heard, and then…

"I am so stupid; I should have known you had received the Dare. I wondered who it was but there was no way to find out… but with you so popular in the church _I should have known_. I can't believe I didn't realize this earlier," she said simply. "With you suddenly wanting to be my friend. Suddenly talking to me and asking me to go bowling with everybody else."

Rebecca looked up at him now for the first time since she'd begun. She had tears in her eyes, and he felt more ashamed than he ever had in his life. "I trusted you. I told you everything. I even told you about how I went away, about my cancer. I confided in you and even grew attached to you. And the most humiliatingly, just a few days ago I kissed you."

Before Aaron could even talk, she pointed to the door, and he obeyed, leaving her to think.

And think she did. She hadn't just kissed him. She'd grown attached to him; she'd even sat in the massaging chairs with him. Beat him at bowling. Grown accustomed and comfortable with him… fell asleep in his presence. Her parents liked him and wanted her to keep her friendship with him.

By now tears were rolling unchecked down Rebecca's cheeks, and she sat there, numb and not knowing how to feel. Sadness would eventually set in if she kept thinking these thoughts. But she couldn't stop them.

With the youth group grapevine growing faster than weeds, the minute the word was dropped it spread at light speed. It hadn't taken long for one of Ruth's friends to call, who'd gotten the news from Teri.

So much for the Dare becoming a secret.

Ruth sat down beside her, interrupting her thoughts by saying, "He wasn't supposed to tell anyone, not even the juniors, until Christmas. He was just supposed to be ready to tell what the Dare was and that he was the Dared, and if he solved it or not. Knowing Teri, though, she couldn't keep the news to herself when Aaron's friend told her."

"None of that matters," Rebecca said. "I don't care how it got around. I am humiliated, Ruth. My friend, the one I told _everything _to, has been a fraud the entire time." She turned tear-filled eyes toward her sister. "I even believe I came to care for him. He was so nice… last night I didn't think he was real… and he wasn't at all… it was all just an act..."

Ruth put her arms around Rebecca and told her, "I think it was an act at first, the first time you went bowling. How do you know his resolve didn't change after you told him everything?"

"Because no guy is as nice as he was to me. He told me he would be at my side the entire time, through all the chemotherapy and treatments, and that he would be on my doorstep when I didn't want to go out. He held my hand and made me feel sacred. And the entire time he was only there because he really had no choice. He was just building on his reputation, becoming one of the high school students to solve the Dare. I was easy."

"I think he sounded sincere, Beck," Ruth said gently, and when her sister didn't reply she just kept holding her until the tears stopped flowing. _Lord? _Ruth prayed. _How much can this girl take? Do you constantly have to lift her hopes and then send them crashing to the ground again? _


	15. Chapter 14

**AN: merryman **(Same to you! It's always awesome to get such a positive review from you after a bunch of flamers.You have no idea. My inspiration from this story came from a song I heard by Rascal Flats called 'Sarabeth', or 'Sarah's Song'... I've heard both names. Of course, this combined with a few books created my story! Thank you! 'The Rock'. I actually have about three stories now I'm working on, so I probably won't continue with that one for a few weeks or more, but I do plan on continuing it whenever I get the chance!) **Jess **(Are you a romantic sap as well? Yeah, I just had to add that in there... I'm glad someone enjoyed it!) **Lillisse **(Perhaps you're right... that one was kind of a dud, wasn't it? I'm thinking about taking it off and doing it all over again. I'll take your advice! Thanks! And no, most of the time I don't take that stuff seriously, but it doesn't make me happy either. Definitely doesn't encourage me! God bless you) **Crystal **(Oh, lol! I didn't even _think _of that! I know what you mean now... I'm glad you and Jess both enjoyed that, I know I enjoyed writing it! Awww, thanks. You're too kind. I mean, the story isn't complete without the kiss and "everything is awesome" sceneright before the big problem and the "everything is not-so-awesome" scene. Plus, being a romantic sap I couldn't resist, ya know? Hey, give me your ideas. I need them, if I'm going to get to my goal of seventy pages for this story. You know better than to keep quiet about your ideas.) **mookersgirl **(Hey, thanks! I'm glad you think that. God bless, and yes I like to know when people like what I write!)

_**Chapter Fourteen**_

Throughout the entire next week of school, Aaron didn't feel like himself. The guilt of what he'd done kept coming back to him, not just in his thoughts but in tangible ways. Even as he walked down the hall to his locker, he was the recipient of glares and looks full of pity. No, this Dare had not been worth it. Why had he even attempted to solve it?

His previous thoughts came back to him then. _If you hadn't tried to solve the Dare, you would never have become Rebecca's friend… never shared so many things with her. _He shook his head, trying to clear it of this thought. _And look where it's gotten you now, Aaron. Worse off than when you started. She's never going to be your friend again._

When Aaron saw Chris at school, he neither glared nor talked to him in a friendly manner. He didn't know whether to thank or slap the guy.

Immersed in his thoughts, Aaron didn't see the same person he'd been thinking about approach his locker as he grabbed the books he needed for his next class. "You know, you were going to have to tell her sometime."

Aaron shut his locker, resisting the urge to slam it and walk away. Instead he replied with self-control. "I would have preferred to break it to her myself."

"Do you think you would have been better off?"

He nodded. "I know she would have rather heard it from me instead of from some gossiper."

"She still would have gotten angry with you."

"But at least I had been honest with her," Aaron hung his head, waved to his friend, and went of to class.

* * *

Aaron sat in his regular spot at church, alongside his family, but found it extremely hard to tune in to their pastor's sermon. All of his thoughts seemed jumbled, and this was the first time he'd actually had time to sort them all out. 

He thought about the last time he'd sat in the same spot he was sitting now, in the front row with the steps only a few feet away. If only the sanctuary could empty out and Rebecca would enter through the doorway again, and they could replay that conversation. If only he could go back and be honest with her, if only he could have another chance to talk to her, to explain everything that had been going on inside him.

If only he could start their entire friendship over again. There were so many if only's.

Yes, she should have known that he had been Dared, just as she'd said so many times. But at the same time he had known, deep inside him, that it would turn out this way. Because of his own stubbornness this had happened. It was his fault and no one else's. He couldn't even blame the juniors, even though they were the ones who conjured this Dare anyway. But he should have known to be honest with Rebecca. He should have been prepared for it to end up this way, should have told her the truth.

But at this point, with all his emotions jumbled, he asked himself what the truth was… and couldn't answer. Yes, at first he had tried to approach Rebecca because of the Dare, but his feelings after that were unknown—even to him.

* * *

Rebecca got to youth group as late as she possibly could. Her parents, not yet knowing about Aaron, had insisted she go. And it wouldn't have done any good to tell them about it. Her mother, even if she had known about his betrayal, would tell her it would do not good to hide from the truth. 

The truth. The words echoed cruelly in her head, ever and over as she approached the front door of Don and Anne's house. The truth was something she'd refused to acknowledge. She'd believed Aaron in everything, trusted there were no lies in his words, had thought his actions were from his heart. Were they?

Hesitating to walk into youth group, where humiliation—and Aaron, seeing that his car was parked out front—awaited her inside. Aaron's feelings were false, the fact that everything, including their friendship, had been a lie proved that. The fact that he felt so at ease lying to her for all those weeks told her that was true. But what about her own feelings? They had been uncorrupt and she'd had nothing to hide… was it time to face what they really were?

"Rebecca?" a voice from the door pulled her out of her reverie. Anne, her youth group leader, stood in front of her smiling.

She flinched; hoping those inside hadn't heard her name being spoken. She'd just been considering running back home and didn't want her chances of that spoiled. When she looked up, she realized the door had been shut. Anne gestured for her to sit down on one of the comfortable porch chairs, and Rebecca knew what was coming.

"I know what you've probably been thinking about all of this," Anne said, getting right to the point and looking directly into her eyes.

"So you've heard the story?" Rebecca asked, but she already knew the answer.

Anne nodded slowly. "You've been thinking Aaron only made friends with you because of the Dare he was given." When Rebecca started to protest, she held up a hand and continued, "If you recall, Rebecca, I watched Aaron grow up. He has one of the softest hearts that I know of, and he would never hurt you on purpose. I talked to him that first time he tried befriending you… and he genuinely sounded hurt about not being able to do so."

Rebecca sighed. "You would think that if he wanted our friendship to be genuine, though, that he wouldn't have lied to me the entire time. He would have come clean if he wanted us to keep being friends, don't you think?"

"I'm going to turn that question back around on you, excuse me," Anne smiled, "Don't you think he was afraid of what your reaction might be? Perhaps he wanted to continue your relationship as if everything were normal… as if the Dare hadn't even happened."

"I think if he knew me as well as I thought he did, he would've known that I would rather have had him come clean and be honest than have to hear it from the church gossips that he was lying to me," Rebecca replied, and that was the end of the conversation. However, even as she walked into youth group as her usual quiet self, she kept thinking about all that Anne had said. Obviously Anne had known those words would stick in her mind or she would have continued the conversation, and Rebecca was glad she had such a wise woman as a youth group leader.


	16. Chapter 15

_**Chapter Fifteen**_

_The truth_. The words had haunted her for a week now. It was as if a small voice was whispering them to her over and over in her head. _The truth. The truth. The truth._

What was the truth?

_You have feelings for Aaron, Rebecca_, the voice now said. _All you have to do is acknowledge them. You let him kiss you. You told him everything. You trusted him with all of your thoughts._

Rebecca knew all of these were true. She had refused to think about them since that horrible day when she'd found out about Aaron's secrets. _For heaven's sake, woman, you showed him the massaging chairs! _She couldn't help but smile at this thought. Yes, she had shown him everything, even her heart. But now Aaron wasn't there on her last week of freedom, the phone wasn't ringing and his voice wasn't on the other end, asking her what she wanted to do that night. And only three days from now, she would be facing her first treatment, and she couldn't help but feel empty knowing when she came home Aaron wouldn't be there on her front step with a board game in hand.

* * *

Another wave of nausea. Rebecca rolled over on the couch and groaned, trying to stanch the tears but unable to do so. She planted her fists hard against the back of the couch, wanting to beat it to pieces. It wasn't fair!

"Honey, maybe you should move to your bed. It would be more comfortable there," her mother's soft voice said from behind her.

Her stomach felt like it was on a roller coaster and she'd had too much cotton candy. The feeling would never end. She felt like all of her organs were sloshing around inside her, every one of them out of place in the sea of queasiness. She imagined all of her arteries and veins being twisted up along with all her organs, her heart working overtime to pump blood through the knotted tubes until they exploded with the pressure.

Rebecca grimacing, thinking about the gruesome picture that created. She would laugh about her thoughts on any other day. But that was how she felt… like her insides were exploding and she could do nothing but sit here on the couch and bear with it. She couldn't die, either. Couldn't be put out of her misery.

"No… no," Rebecca moaned. She tried to smile up at her mother, who had been more than patient for the last three hours… and she had days of this left! "It's okay. I wouldn't feel any better in my bed. I like the distraction of the TV."

Her mother frowned as the doorbell rang, and Rebecca knew her thoughts matched her own. _Who could possibly be calling now?_

But she knew, even before he said her mother's name. "Mrs. Pier."

"Hello, Aaron!" her mother said enthusiastically, even though Rebecca had already told her everything about the Dare and how he'd lied to her. "Rebecca isn't feeling good today… well, maybe you already know that. Sorry to turn you away, any other day we wouldn't have, but perhaps—"

"I believe I promised Rebecca that I would be here with board games on her front step until she let me in. I'm not going to go and break another promise. That would make my promise a lie, and I couldn't do that," Aaron persisted.

Rebecca buried her face into her pillow. _Mom, don't you dare let him in! _she thought. _Not when I'm looking like this._

"I'm not so sure she would welcome you just now," Rebecca's mother sounded very unsure as she stood at the door.

Yet again a wave of nausea hit her hard, and her stomach clenched up. It was like having the flu without being able to empty your stomach of its contents. She stretched her legs to the end of the couch and pressed her feet against the armrest until the worst of the sickness was gone.

"Well, I told her that I would sit on her steps until she let me in," Aaron said with a tight voice. "I brought Monopoly, and tomorrow it will be the Game of Life. So whatever she prefers…"

"Alright, Aaron, but I hope you brought a book," Mrs. Pier said with a sigh, and Rebecca silently thanked her mother. "You can sit on the porch chairs if you'd like."

"Thank you Mrs. Pier."

Rebecca sighed into her pillow. She was so tired, and she wanted to just _sleep_ like she had in the hospital… And she fell asleep thinking, _I sat with him in the massaging chairs._


	17. Chapter 16

_**Chapter Sixteen**_

"I sat with you in the massaging chairs," Rebecca whispered. Her mother had been horrified to see her get up and walk to the front door. She'd put on her slippers and quickly checked her appearance in the mirror… even though she knew her hair was not to be helped. After calming it with a brush she'd walked slowly, battling queasiness, out onto the porch.

Aaron's head snapped up as he nearly jumped in surprise. He turned around on the patio chairs, setting his book down without even marking his page. His smile stretched from ear to ear as he got up to help her to a chair.

"I sat with you in the massaging chairs," she told him again as she shivered in the cold. She swallowed the nausea and set down her huge hospital water bottle, wrapping her arms around her. "And I am not just going to go and show someone the massaging chairs, sit in them with that person, and forget about them for the rest of my life." She lowered her eyes. "As if I could forget about you for the rest of my life anyway."  
Aaron reached for her head, but she pulled away. "Let me finish. I told you everything, Aaron, and I risked it all to be your friend. I let you _kiss _me, Aaron! You cannot imagine what I was going through when I heard that you'd betrayed me. You cannot imagine how many tears I cried. I'm not going to go and play the 'as if I didn't have enough to deal with' card with you, but I am not going to hide my anger, sadness, and disappointment in you."

He took a deep breath and captured her hand again. "Rebecca, you do not know how sorry I am."

"I think I do. Because you are no sorrier than I am about this. I trusted you, and now I feel like a fool, when I know the truth: you are the one that should be feeling like an idiot. But here I am, thinking that I should have been the one to know that all of this was going to happen."

"I love you."

Rebecca forgot her roiling stomach the second he spoke those three words. Tears came unbidden along with the shock as she brought her head up to look at him. He was not smiling, and this time she knew he was honest. She knew it was time to be honest herself. "And I love you."

Aaron gently kissed the palm of her hand and looked back up at her. "I know you think that all this time our friendship was fake, but by the time you'd told me about your leukemia, I was sold. Truth be told: I have never met anyone so kind, so faithful in the Lord, so beautiful inside and out… there are no words to describe you," Aaron said softly. "While you had every reason to be angry with the Lord, to be angry with life in general, instead you were thinking of others. You all but cut yourself off from the rest of the world so that no one but those closest to you would have to deal with any pain.

"I wanted to tell you about the Dare. In fact, I was about to throw it all away, should have made that decision the second I felt a real friendship growing. I was about to go talk to the juniors and tell them I couldn't do the Dare, and I was so close to telling you everything and coming clean. But, of course, I had to be an idiot, and I don't know what was going through my head. I also don't know how I will ever make it up to you."

Rebecca felt the hot tears running down her cheeks, and she didn't stop them. Neither did she look at Aaron when she said, "You don't have to make anything up to me. I have already forgiven you."

"Then let me come in and play a board game with you."


	18. Chapter 17

**AN: Jess **(I love massaging chairs, too! And not just because, in the story it's something meaningful... clears throat) **merryman **(Yeah, that was kind of where I was going with Aaron. And don'tyou love kiddie plays? I adore them. We have a Christmas pageant/play every year atour church, and it's for little kids.We always havebig turnout for it because the kids are so cute! And no, thank _you!) _**Crystal **(Oh, thanks! Yeah, well, I'm forgetful that way too. That's okay, even though I was kinda looking forward to hearing your ideas. I'll think about that scene, though I _do _have some cool things in mind... Well, yes, longer chapters are better, but see I realize that some people don't realy want to read long chaptesr like that. It gets tiring, and people skip over things and skim just to get done with the chapter. So I try to make my chapters shorter, but I'm not leaving anything out. Eh hem... yes I _know_ what you mean. And if someone said something like that to me... I would _melt_. That reminds me of the song...) **Melissa **(Thanks for reviewing! Yes, I think that's a complete outrage. People do it without thinking, and it's not just with races. It's basically all to do with outward appearances. If someone doesn't have a perfect body, a lot of people automatically assume the worst. One of my favorite sayings, also because I'm a bookworm: Never judge a book by its cover) **SunnyGoten **(You're right about those things. Thanks for letting me know! Yeah, God made the earth because there was nothing and He was bored--to put it simply--but He didn't _have_ to make lakes and mountains and plains. He could have made the earth boring and dull without flowers, plants, beauty, panoramas. That's waht I was going for with that. The other point, you're completely right about everything on earth fading, even the sun, scientifically. What I was leaning toward is that His creations in general, including Heaven, won't fade. Even though our bodies die, still our souls that He's created willcontinue to live, it's just a matter of where. I wasn't really saying the earth specifically, because we all knwo it's already beginning to fade, I wassort of saying His creations as a whole. I can see where you're coming with those, adn I should have explained my thoughts better. And your second review: Wow! Good question! I might have to think about this one for a little while and come back with it in another poem. Here's what I can think of off the top of my head: You're right, God could help those people up. What I was using was sort of an analogy for humans going down the wrong path. We still have our free will and can ignore that 'still, small voice' inside our heads, but I also think that our conscience has a lot to do with God. So, "those that fall" or those that are heading down the wrong path made their own choices. God can't control completely. He's already won over sin and Satan, but He can't just take over and steer us onto teh right path again. That just makes it easier for us, it's not really helping us strengthen our faith. So, instead of taking control over those people heading teh wrong direction, He helps not directly but sort of in a roundabout way. I'm sure you've heard of God "using" a believer to do His will? Well, that's what I was talking about. By God using me to help out a friend who is getting off track, by God using me to reach this person with the Gospel, He can do a better job. I'll use an analogy: When someone is learnign to drive,instead of takign the steering wheel, God puts somebody in the passenger seat to help that person learn. If the passenger keeps taking teh wheel the learner will never completley learn how to drive and soon will depend on the passenger to take over when they're in the other lane or in teh path of danger. I plan on thinking about this some more; I don't think I explained it well enough. Anyway, until I can think of anything else to tell you, thanks for reviewing!)

* * *

_**Chapter Seventeen**_

Aaron logged onto the internet, wondering what Chris had sent him. He'd told him at school that he'd found something interesting while he was browsing the internet a few days earlier and that he'd sent him some of the things he'd found on a certain site.

Sure enough, the first message in his 'Inbox' folder was from Chris.

_"Hey, dude, I thought you should check this out:"_

Home FAQs Recent Emails "Just Diagnosed"

RBP,

My parents had thought I was just sick, but they didn't know what it was. When I started being tired all the time, they thought I was just coming down with something. Then the bruises started happening. They were horrible and from the silliest things ever.

That was when my parents took me to the doctor. They did some tests, and just today the doctor met with me and my family. I have leukemia, and I don't know how to take it. Finding your site was a miracle... I had no idea how to take the diagnosis. I feel like my whole life is coming to a close, like this is it for me. I can't even begin to describe the feeling; I'm mostly numb to everything right now. I can't even cry about it… I just don't _know _how to feel.

I grew up in a church and have been a Christian since I was three. I always was taught that Jesus loved _me_. That was, in fact, our Awana theme song when I was a cubby. But if He really _does_ love me, why did He let this happen? Why would He want to end my life like this?

Jennifer

Reply

Jennifer,

Thanks for emailing me with your questions. That's what this site is for, and I'm very glad you found it. Those are the typical questions and feelings, and it's completely understandable. When I first was told that I had cancer in my blood cells, I didn't know how to take it. We found it early enough that they thought they were going to be able to catch it… and they did. After a long time having to deal with chemotherapy, it went into remission. Now, just a few months ago, I found out it's made a comeback. So I know completely how you feel and I understand. You can find my story if you follow the link 'About Me' on my homepage.

I will tell you the complete truth, Jennifer: it's not fun. In fact, by your first treatment you will wish you were dead. I do not accept and reply to emails to tell cancer victims that "everything's gonna be all right". I'm not going to lie to you and tell you that chemotherapy is fine or fun in any way, because it's not. I have this site because I want to provide a safe haven for cancer patients who don't know what's in store for them… or those, like you, who don't know what to feel. I have this site because I want to answer questions that I can answer because of my own experience. And I'm going to be completely honest.

As for your questions about God: you're not alone when you feel this way. I felt that way, still do, even though I know the answers. I'll bet my life that most other cancer and disease patients have felt that way at some point in their sickness. You're right to think that way, actually. But have you ever thought of your sickness as a blessing?

I know, I know, you're wondering how on earth I can say that while we both are sitting here at our computers and a battle (one that has a fair chance to end up in death) is raging inside us. Well, I can, because there is a certain verse in the Bible that says that trials should be considered a gift. To put it in human perspective, God deems your faith is strong enough to be tested. Or we could say it the other way around: Satan considers your faith a threat to him, so he sends sin and trials your way. Know that God was not the creator of disease; our sin-nature, our corruption and unrighteousness, created sin and sickness. He intended the entire world to be perfect, and you can bet that disease was not in His book listed as 'perfect'. All that came along the second Adam and Eve bit into their fruit from the Forbidden Tree.

Then we can argue "Why did God _allow_ this to happen to us?" I know this is hard to grasp, but God's way of thinking is infinitely more complex than ours. He has His plan for you, and you can be sure that He knows what He is doing. I will tell you this: this disease, this cancer, this sickness will be _the_ trial of your life. It will test your faith every day. I would go as far as to say that what is going on inside you is not only a battle between cells but a battle between good and evil. Spiritual warfare.

And think what is waiting for you at the end! It's either life… or life. Life on earth if you're cured or life in heaven! You'll be cured any which way it turns out. Christ will make your body whole again, and there is no disease in heaven. When you think about it in the long run, it's almost better to have God take your life than to spend the rest of your life on earth.

This is the way I see it: put all my faith in God; He's got it handled. I end up winning any way He sends me. The worst thing that can happen is I die, right? And even then I still live eternally in heaven with my Creator.

Which brings our conclusion to this: God _is _our Creator. He gave us everything, including our bodies and the cells that are infecting us. _So what right do we have to be angry with Him for taking away what was rightfully His to begin with?_

Anyway, I hope that this was enough to satisfy your questions for now. If you have any more, I'd be glad to get another email from you!

In Him,

Rebecca

_"I didn't think it would take anything else to convince you…" _

Aaron blinked hard and looked over the email once again. RBP. Rebecca Brittany Pier. So, _this _was God's reason for giving her cancer.


	19. Chapter 18

_**Chapter Eighteen**_

Aaron debated in his mind whether to approach Rebecca about her website or not. Obviously she didn't want everybody to know about it or she would have told him, but he didn't want to replay everything that had just happened with the Dare. 'Withholding information' was just as good as lying, and if he did any more of that he'd be just as good as dead.

He took his turn on the Monopoly game board and forked out some money for tax. He had enough cash, considering he'd already collected several thousand dollars from Rebecca because he had a few houses on Boardwalk and several on the green properties. "So…" he began, handing over the dice. "When did you first start your site?"

Rebecca brought her head up sharply and looked at him with confusion. He hadn't meant to take her by surprise, but he knew he had to ask about it sometime. "Site?"

"Your internet site for cancer and disease patients," Aaron explained. When her eyes went wide, contrasting with her frown, he smiled and went on. "Chris sent me your link and your email to Jennifer. He'd been browsing the internet… only God knows what for."

She looked embarrassed, and for once there was a tint of pink on her cheeks. For the past few days she'd been pale, and he was glad to see some color on her face. "I… didn't know my site was so easy to find."

Aaron smiled what he hoped was a warm and kind smile. He picked up her hand and kissed her palm. "That's incredibly nice of you to start a site like that. You know that's God's calling for you."

"I hope it is," Rebecca sighed. "Because if it isn't I don't know if I could stop. I've been reading and replying to emails for five years now… I would feel so cheap, like I was deserting them, if I had to shut the site down."

"I don't know why God would not want you to do something that you're perfect at. You're helping so many lost people… you could bring so many people to Christ when it's important that they do so in case He does take their lives," Aaron said.

She smiled. "Three people in the last year have become believers. You have no idea how that makes me feel. And to think the happiness that I feel is only a small fraction compared to the party going on in heaven."

"When I was little and I accepted Christ, I remember my mother smiling and telling me that the angels were rejoicing in heaven because of my choice. My mom still laughs about the expression on my face when I asked why on earth would they would be happy just because a little five-year-old made a decision for Him," Aaron laughed, and he warmed at the sight of Rebecca across the coffee table on her couch, smiling cheerfully over at him.

* * *

"Aaron!" shouted a voice from across the sanctuary. He was chatting with some of his friends from youth group after the church service when Teri caught up with him. "Just the guy I was looking for." Aaron said goodbye to the people he was talking to and turned back to the cheerful junior, who was already continuing, "I don't know what you want to do about the Dare."

He smiled sardonically. "Should you really be asking _me_ about that?"

Teri looked confused, and he realized he should be a bit nicer to the girl because part of the ruined Dare was his fault, too. "Look, Teri, I know the Dare for this year didn't work out, but we all have a part in it. I was given it thinking that I would just befriend her without hurting any feelings… in fact; I was foolish to think so. But I do think that it was partly the juniors' fault because they came up with the Dare; and don't go saying _you're_ the innocent party. I was going to sort things out with Rebecca and would have if you hadn't told everyone.

"But," he sighed. "I have to say that I could have told her sooner, could have stated my motives the second I started my efforts."

Still frowning, Teri shrugged. "Okay, that's awesome, the true confessions and all, and I do regret making it harder for you and Rebecca… but that doesn't solve our problem. Some of the youth group kids still don't know all about what happened with the Dare."

Aaron fought anger as he said, "Well, I guess that's up to you," before he turned on his heel to go chat with someone kinder.


	20. Chapter 19

_**Chapter Nineteen**_

Rebecca squeezed a quarter-sized amount of conditioner into her palm and massaged it into her hair, trying to tell herself that it _was_ worth it. But trying to keep her hair in good shape was useless. Even as she gently combed her fingers through her hair before rinsing it out, tufts of it appeared in her hand. _And all these years of growing my hair out…for nothing_, she thought, fighting tears.

**_Not for nothing, Daughter_.**

She found comfort in the words that seemed to echo in her head. They reminded her that God _did _know every hair on her head, and every single one of them was a gift, not a mistake. _Thank you, Lord. Once again, you are right. Why should I be sad over the loss of something that was a gift in the first place?_

That morning she would check her emails from her website, encouraged by Aaron's words. But would he return to her site? Would she be able to let herself speak freely without having to worry about who would be reading on the other end of the internet? He had been proud of her because of her website, but still she knew she wouldn't be able to update the site and reply to emails the same way. She would still be thinking about what Aaron would be thinking…

_Rebecca, why are you so worried about what he thinks? _she asked herself. _If he thinks of me differently after he sees another side of me, that is his loss… right?_

Even though he had much schoolwork to do and most of his hours were still taken up by school, Aaron found himself thinking more and more about Rebecca. When was she going to start telling people about her sickness? What game would he bring over this afternoon?

His parents had begun to get upset over how much time he was spending with her. True, he went there right after school until seven or eight in the evening, depending on how much homework he had. _Rebecca needs me_. After witnessing the unpleasantness of the aftermath of yet another round of chemotherapy, he'd been convinced of that even more.

Sundays were entirely his 'family day', though, and Aaron's mother had firmly told him that he could see not one member of the Pier family during that day. Every minute of every hour was to be spent with his family, whom he seemed to be seeing less and less of as the weeks went by.

Christmas was approaching fast, with less than two weeks until break. The changes in the months had zoomed by, from September into October into November, and recently into December. The dates on his school papers had changed, and tests and homework had seemed miniscule compared to the girl waiting for him five miles east of his high school.

"Hi, Ruth," Aaron said with a grin. Since he'd become 'expected' just after three in the afternoons every weekday, he'd let himself in as usual. Rebecca's smiling sister sat cross-legged on the couch with the remote in hand. "How're you?"

"Since you saw me last?" she teased. "I'm doing fine."

Mrs. Pier called from inside the kitchen, "Long time no see, Aaron."

"It's nice to see you too, Mrs. Pier," Aaron shot back the friendly retort.

He turned to see Rebecca coming from her bedroom, pajamas on and rubbing her eyes groggily. She'd obviously just gotten up from a nap. He smiled at her as she brought both arms up over her head in a catlike stretch. Greeting her with her usual warm hug, she took his hand and tugged him onto the couch and sat beside him. "How is school going?"

"Boring as usual," Aaron rolled his eyes. "And your home-school?"

"Not any different than yours," she replied.

Conversations like these were typical, though he never asked the same questions every day. Sometimes they ran out of things to say and just watched TV or concentrate on the board game. Most of the time they found things to talk about.

"What are your plans for this wonderful Friday evening, Ruth?" asked Aaron.

Ruth only blushed and smiled, and was about to explain herself when her sister did so for her. "Ruth's got a date on this wonderfully Friday evening."

He tried to look astounded. "Ruth? On a _date_?" He grinned and teased her, "I didn't think Ruth _believed _in dating."

This sent both sisters into gales of laughter, and Aaron settled back to watch the television.


	21. Chapter 20

_**Chapter Twenty**_

Christmas came fast, almost taking Aaron by surprise. His stomach knotted just thinking about what he was going to say—in front of the entire youth group—at the Christmas party, and how he was going to explain to all of them what happened.

Part of him wanted to lie, tell them that it was all a stupid mix-up and that he was just a miniscule pawn in the entire deal. But that still, small voice inside him told him that he needed to tell everyone the truth, and that there was no way out of it. He could lie but it would all come back to bite him in the future—the near future, considering Rebecca wouldn't take well to his 'stretching of the truth'. No, he had to prepare himself for double humiliation all over again.

_It's not as if it isn't well-deserved, Aaron_, he told himself sarcastically as he got ready to go. Rebecca probably wouldn't go, but he still had to make an appearance. Especially for his Dare speech.

"So... Aaron," Teri said that night. "What're you planning on doing about the Dare tonight?"

He grimaced. "I was hoping you'd already explained everything for me, but I guess not." Shrugging, he continued, "Well, I guess I don't have anything to do but explain everything to the people."

"Have you planned something to say?" Teri asked with her eyebrows raised as if she was surprised he wasn't going to run and hide from what he had to do. Well, that's what he _wanted _to do.

"Sort of," Aaron shrugged again, moving off to talk with some of the other kids at youth group that night.

Teri was quick to get to the point at the party that night. After the exchanging of Secret Santa gifts, she took the floor to explain about the Dare. "This year we had… well, we had a strange case as far as the person who was Dared. I think I'll turn the explanation over to Aaron, the Dared for this year."

_Thanks, Teri. _

Aaron smiled nervously out at all the faces looking at him. There were only twenty some people there that night, but the fact that they would know all about his horrible mistake made his stomach clench tight. "As you all have realized, Rebecca Pier and I have become good friends in the past months. And even more of you know that she's… well, she's sick. But that's beside what I'm talking about. The Dare I was given months ago was to befriend Rebecca, who'd made a reputation for being shy to the extent of not talking to _anyone_. Well, I befriended her, and as the Dare states, I wasn't allowed to—and I didn't—tell her about my motives for becoming her friend.

"I'm sure you've all heard the gossip," Aaron continued after a few snickers from his audience. "It's up to you to decide what's true and what's not, I guess. I did not just become Rebecca's friend because of the Dare… sure, that's what made me get to know her in the first place, but after a while I realized that even after the Dare ended, I would still want to be her friend. And so when the news got out that I had received a Dare and that Rebecca was involved, of course everybody thought it was true. It was, although my feelings are not the same as when I started out with the Dare. Rebecca knows everything now, but I still made the mistake of accepting the Dare and not telling her the truth. And that was the worst decision I could have ever made on my part, and I had to work hard to earn back every bit of trust I had to begin with. I deeply regret that mistake."

Aaron looked up to see that Teri had tears in her eyes and her jaw was slack with amazement. She cleared her throat and took the floor yet again. But her words were not what anybody expected. "Aaron is wrong. It was not his fault, and not his mistake. The juniors and I were the ones who came up with the Dare in the first place… if we hadn't given that specific one to him, this never would have happened. Sure, he could have spilled the beans to Rebecca and told her everything, but I still think he thought his loyalty was to the Dare and those who'd solved it before. I know how much he wanted to solve it, and I can't imagine having it backfire like it did, losing his reputation as a good guy _and_ his friendship with someone who is obviously really special to him. So, Aaron, I'm sorry that we had to put you through all of this. And I would really like to apologize to you and Rebecca… I don't know how you'll ever forgive me, though."

"I already forgave you, Teri," Aaron said, his throat a little tight as well. A swell of warmth washed over him as he realized that Teri was not his enemy, but had been feeling the same exact guilt that he had over these past few months.

Anne stood up with a smile on her face. "As far as I'm concerned, Aaron has solved the Dare… that and more. I believe this certain Dare will go down in history. It's definitely a story to tell."


	22. Chapter 21

_**Chapter Twenty-One**_

Rebecca opened the door to see a smiling Aaron in her doorway… dressed in a tuxedo. Frowning, she opened the door wider to see him fully. His grin stretched wider when he saw her amazement, and she nearly shrieked when he brought his hand from behind his back.

"_Roses_, Aaron?" Rebecca said, not sure whether to cry or to laugh or to hug him and was considering doing all three. "What's this for?"

"Well, if you would come out of that fortress of yours every once in a while, you would see that there are lights and snowmen around nearly every person's house. It's Christmas, Rebecca," he took her hand and bowed low over it, kissing it.

She was catching on. Taking the roses and smelling deep of them, she said in the most polite and high-pitched voice she could muster, "Won't you come in, kind sir?"

"I'd be delighted," he winked, stepping into her house. "I've just returned from the Christmas party at Anne and Don's. Everything's all cleared up."

"Have you gained your reputation back?" Rebecca grinned. She punched him lightly on the shoulder. "Not that you deserve it."

"You're right," he said, his eyes taking on a dark look. He grinned evilly and backed her into the wall. "I'm completely scandalous. Disreputable. Dishonest."

Rebecca was stunned for a few seconds, but quickly recovered. "Why, you scoundrel!" she with mock horror in her most dramatic voice, but she was grinning.

"Well, _this _scoundrel likes ladies that are hard to get best," he raised his eyebrows and came for her again. This time she let him encircle her waist with his arms. He looked her in the eye for several incredibly long seconds before lowering his mouth onto hers.

A number of moments later, he pulled back with a grin. "My goodness, for a lady who's so dignified and well thought-of, you can kiss quite well."

Rebecca laughed and put her arms around him, sighing. "And why exactly did such a scoundrel wear a tuxedo and bring flowers?"

"Because I'm taking you out to a nice Christmas Eve dinner."

She raised her eyes to look at his. "Did I just hear the word _out_?" She sighed and quickly kissed him. "I can't go out, Aaron. You know that."

He kissed her back. "Trying to take the sting out of your rejection?" He raised his eyebrows. "I should propose these sorts of things to you more often."

Giggling, she went over to sit on the couch. "Why would you even think that I'd go out with you on a date… in public?"

"Because I bought you something special for Christmas… which you will open _before _we go on that date I told you about," Aaron smiled, sitting down beside her and putting his arm around her waist. He set a medium-sized box down on her lap and took the roses from her, putting them aside while she slowly opened her present.

Inside was a silky, long brown wig. Tears filled Rebecca's eyes and looked over at Aaron. "Oh, Aaron…"

Quickly he enveloped her in a hug, just before she started crying. She squeezed him back and said over his shoulder, "Now you'll get to see me with hair again."

He drew back and took the hat off her head, and this time she didn't resist. He ran his fingers through her quickly-diminishing hair. "You're beautiful to me whether you have hair or not, Beck."

She closed her eyes with a small smile on her face, and then quickly opened them again. Pecking him quickly on the cheek, she got up and shouted for her sister. "Ruth! Come help me!"

Aaron waited on the couch for Rebecca to get the wig on. A few minutes later, smiles on their faces, the two of them emerged from the bathroom. Rebecca had put on a nice long-sleeved dress and some makeup. But what stunned him most was the shiny brown wig.

"Aaron, how did you get something so close to my own hair?" Rebecca asked, taking his hand and pulling him up off the couch. She touched her new hair. "It's almost exactly the same color and length as my real hair."

He ignored her question, exchanging a smile with Ruth and tugging on the sleeve of her dress. "Does this mean you're going on that Christmas Eve date with me?"

Rebecca nodded and smiled.


	23. Epilogue

_**Epilogue**_

Aaron parked in front of her house and went around the car to open her door. "I promised your parents I'd have you home by nine. I hope you're not too tired?"

"Nope," Rebecca replied cheerfully as she stepped out with his help.

"Good." He pulled her close and kissed her until they were both out of breath. Running his fingers through her new hair, he hugged her tight. "I'm so glad that Teri gave me that Dare, Beck. She said that she regretted coming up with it in the first place, but do you realize that we wouldn't even know each other like this if it hadn't been for her 'mistake'?"

Rebecca sighed contentedly. "I think going through all that heartache was worth it."

"Me too," he agreed, rubbing her back gently. "Honestly, I don't regret a single thing I did… except for not telling you. Everything would have been so much easier if I would have just told you about the Dare once we'd gotten to be good friends."

He felt her shrug in his arms. "All that matters is now, right?"

"Precisely," Aaron grinned, kissing her one more time. God had made everything happen the way He'd wanted it to, and he was thankful for that. There would be a lot of pain to deal with in the next few years, and Aaron knew that. But he still couldn't bring himself to regret becoming a part of Rebecca's life, even though things were like a crazy rollercoaster with her.

What Aaron also knew was that even in the high times and the low times, God would always stick with both of them, because He was the one who put them there. So while things were good, Aaron decided to enjoy it.

In the same way, he knew he had to savor and relish the time he had with Rebecca on earth, and no matter how short that time was, he knew he had an eternity with her in heaven.


End file.
